You are in: Front page / Older Houses
Section · Slabs and old pipe
Older Houses: What Is Under the Slab and Behind the Walls
Older home plumbing problems in Florida mostly hide where you can't see them: pipes under a concrete slab, gray plastic supply lines, aging drains. Start with the water meter, then call a licensed plumber.
In this section
Think You Have a Slab Leak? Start at the Water Meter
A slab leak is a supply line leaking under your concrete floor, and the water meter is the one reliable home test. If it moves with everything off, a licensed plumber should find the spot.
Polybutylene Pipe: The Gray Plastic Line in Many Older Homes
Polybutylene pipe is a gray, flexible plastic supply line used in millions of homes from the late 1970s; the settlement that paid for replacements stopped taking claims in 2009, so today it is a question for your plumber and insurer.
Cast Iron Drains: What You Can Check and What You Can't
Cast iron drain pipe carries waste out of many older homes here, often under the slab. No neutral source we found gives a reliable lifespan, so judge it by what a licensed plumber finds, not by the house's age.
Sinkholes and Pipes: When the Yard Opens Up
When a sinkhole opens near your plumbing, keep people and pets back, don't fill it or let water run into it, and call your insurer. If it threatens the house or a road, call 911.
Older home plumbing problems in Seminole County and north Orange County tend to stay quiet until a bill jumps or a floor gets damp. Storm season runs through November 30, and plenty of owners use the calmer weeks after it to get insurance paperwork and a plumbing look-over in order. Citizens Property Insurance has asked for a 4-point inspection, which covers plumbing, on homes more than 20 years old on policies starting February 1, 2022 or later, so a lot of houses from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s get a closer look whether the owner planned one or not.
Four stories in this section
Slab leaks covers the most common worry in a block house on a slab: a supply line leaking under the floor. The only home checks we can point to with a solid source are the water meter tests from EPA and Seminole County, and that story walks through them step by step.
Polybutylene pipe explains the gray plastic supply line used in many homes from the late 1970s into the 1990s, the class settlement that once paid for replacements, and why that claim window closed in 2009.
Cast iron drains is about the heavy metal drain lines in many older houses. Honest sources on how long they last under a Florida slab are thin, so that story sticks to what you can check and who should look.
Sinkholes and pipes sorts out a true sinkhole from a hole caused by a broken drain or septic tank, and what your insurance policy has to cover.
Where to start in an older house?
Start at the water meter. Turn off every faucet and appliance that uses water, lift the lid on the curbside meter box and look at the little flow indicator under the meter cap; if it moves while everything is off, Seminole County says you have a leak. That test costs nothing and tells you whether to keep digging.
Next, know what you have. Look where pipes come out of the wall under sinks and at the water heater, and keep any inspection reports from your purchase. Then let a licensed plumber do the diagnosis; you can check any license on the state's licensing site, and our story on hiring a plumber shows how.
Who checks what?
Nobody inspects private plumbing on a schedule here. The county building division handles permits when work is done, your insurer decides what it will cover, and a licensed plumber is the one to open walls or test lines. If a hole opens in the yard, keep people and pets back and read the sinkhole story before you do anything else.